5. Five

5

FIVE

S alem felt bigger than it actually was when we finished our tour. The hike out to the House of the Seven Gables hadn’t been bad. The walk back—my stomach growling the entire way—had felt way longer than was necessary, though. It didn’t help that Leo seemed determined to match his pace with mine. Sure, it made sense for the photos, but our fingers accidentally brushed multiple times, and whenever it happened I felt an odd jolt to a part of my body I wasn’t expecting to get jolted.

Leo was so not my type. He was surly, mean, and never smiled. Despite that, I sensed a loneliness under his tough guy veneer that tugged at my heartstrings. I didn’t know a lot about him—even after hearing he’d been cast I opted not to read all the bad stories about him on the internet because I didn’t want that to sway my opinion—but now I knew I would have to read those stories. There was something there I was missing, and I had to figure out what.

By the time we reached Cauldron Bubble Bistro, the restaurant Daisy’s friends owned, I was ready for a nap. Okay, I wanted food first. Then I would want a nap. The inside of the restaurant was decked out for Halloween, which made sense because most of the businesses in town seemed to embrace the Halloween theme year-round.

“Well, well, well,” a happy man said from behind the hostess stand when we entered. “I was starting to think you’d forgotten about us. My wife believes you’ve abandoned her because you don’t like babies.”

Daisy made a face. “Who said I didn’t like babies?”

“Well, I don’t think she likes them all that much right now,” the man replied. He leaned forward and whispered the next part. “She’s a little big.”

“I heard that!” a screechy voice snapped from somewhere farther back in the restaurant. The lighting was dim so I couldn’t immediately make her out.

“I said you were a little big,” the man insisted, his eyes wild when he turned. “You’re pregnant. You’re supposed to be big.”

The woman who waddled—yes, waddled—up to the hostess stand had her hand on her lower back. Her stomach was the size of a beach ball, making her look misshapen because the rest of her—well, other than her enormous breasts—was thin and almost frail looking in the shadow of that stomach.

“Wow,” was all I could say.

“Wow is right,” Leo muttered from behind me. “I just … wow.”

“Who are you two wowing?” the mother-to-be demanded as she glared at Leo and me. “I don’t need your judgment. I know how I look.”

“Baby, you look beautiful,” the man insisted as he moved toward her. “You’re glowing from within.”

“I’m not glowing,” the woman replied. “That’s sweat. I’m constantly hot because this baby—your offspring—is cooking me from the inside.”

I darted a worried look toward Daisy. She seemed adamant when suggesting we visit her friend’s restaurant. Now did not look like a good time, though. To my utter surprise, Daisy was smiling. Apparently, she wasn’t bothered by the scene at all.

“Samantha Summers and Leo Powell, this is Lux and Jesse Crane,” Daisy volunteered. “As you can see, they’re … basking in imminent parenthood.”

“Oh, don’t you start,” Lux—and what a unique name that was, although it seemed to fit her—pinned Daisy with a death glare. “Where have you been? It’s been almost a week since you last saw me.”

Daisy didn’t let the other woman’s tone bother her. “I had a Sweet Sixteen from hell and then we had to get ready for that film crew that’s invading us for the next six weeks,” she replied, unruffled. “I told you that I would be busy but would find time to visit you in the hospital if you went into labor.”

Lux didn’t look placated by the information. “Are you kidding me? I’m clearly never going into labor. This baby is going to keep growing until he kills me.”

“She’s overdue,” Jesse said in a low voice. He was a man who looked as if he wanted to flee for the hills. I honestly couldn’t blame him. His wife was utterly terrifying. “A week now,” he added. “She’s a week overdue.”

“Well, didn’t the doctor say that could happen with first babies?” Daisy challenged. “I remember you mentioning something like that.”

“I mentioned it when I thought it wouldn’t happen,” Lux fired back. “I have a week-old child inside of me, Daisy. He needs to get out!” She roared the last part at her own belly.

“She’s not in the best headspace,” Jesse volunteered. “She actually told me she was going to lock me in those stocks outside the Witch Dungeon Museum and leave me there until she gives birth if I didn’t stop telling her how beautiful she was last night.”

“And I stand by that.” Lux gave her husband the sort of glare that my mother reserved for when she was deathly serious. “You deserve to be locked up after what you did.”

“What did you do?” Daisy asked.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jesse replied. “I just suggested that, since we’re having a boy and hot dogs were so important to us, that maybe we should consider the name Frank. I thought she would laugh.”

If a human being could shoot fire out of their eyes, that human being would be Lux right now. I swear her nostrils flared like she was a bull. “We’re not naming our child—the infant who is going to have your big head and ruin your favorite playground—after a hot dog!”

Discomfort rode roughshod over me, and I took an inadvertent step back, smacking directly into Leo’s chest. Rather than shove me away, his arm came around me, and he anchored me there in an oddly sweet protective gesture.

“She can’t catch you,” he said in a low voice, his mouth directly next to my ear. “She’s too big. We’ll run for it if she even looks in our direction.”

I didn’t want to laugh—this woman’s misery was obvious—but there was no swallowing the guffaw that bubbled up.

“Are you seriously poking the bear right now?” Daisy asked when she heard the noise I’d made. She did a double take when she registered Leo had his arm around me.

“I’m really nervous,” I replied. “I don’t even know what to do right now I’m so nervous.” I lowered my voice. “I swear she looks as if she could rip my throat out with her teeth.”

“That’s another thing!” Lux threw her hands in the air. “Do you know how many calories I’m eating a day?”

“It’s okay to eat, baby,” Jesse said. “You have to keep yourself strong.”

“Stop talking to me.” Lux glared at her husband. “Just stop.” With that, she turned on her heel and flounced—or tried to—toward the kitchen. Given the extra weight she was carrying around, it was more of a meander.

“What does the doctor say?” Daisy asked when she was gone.

“Any minute now,” Jesse replied. “I honestly can’t wait to get that thing out of her. She’s getting more and more evil by the day.”

“It won’t be long,” Daisy promised. “Then she’ll be back to the sweet—or sweeter—wife you love more than anything.”

“Yeah.” Jesse didn’t look convinced. “Table for three?”

“Absolutely.” Daisy was all smiles. “Leo and Sam are part of the crew that’s going to be filming the new television show. I want to make sure they have the best food to start.”

Jesse broke out in a wide grin. “You guys are really part of the show? That’s so cool. Everybody in town is excited.”

“We’re excited too,” I promised. Leo’s arm was still around my chest, and I hadn’t yet figured out why he hadn’t released me. “Do you have clam chowder today?”

Jesse bobbed his head. “Every day.”

“Then I think we’re going to get along fine.”

WE DIDN’T SEE LUX AGAIN WHILE WE WERE eating. We heard her occasionally, back in the kitchen, and she didn’t sound as if her day was getting better. When it was time to leave, Daisy lingered by the door.

“Can you guys make it back to the hotel without me?” she prodded.

“It’s just a straight shot down Essex, right?” Leo asked.

Daisy nodded. “Normally, I wouldn’t abandon you after promising to deliver you safely back to the hotel, but I feel I should maybe try to help Jesse.”

The sound of a pan hitting the floor in the kitchen and more expletives exploding had me nodding. “We’ll be fine.”

“Awesome.” She shot me a thumbs-up, gave Leo a look I couldn’t decipher, and then took off toward the kitchen at a run. She stopped just long enough to look back over her shoulder. “If you want to try that pickle martini I mentioned earlier, a group of us are going to Finz later. Just Google it. It’s only a seven-minute walk.” With that, she waved us off before disappearing. She had more important things to worry about.

Outside, it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the bright light thanks to the dimness we’d been subjected to inside. When I looked at Leo, I found a shocking sight. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“Are you seriously telling me that you found that woman’s misery funny?” I demanded. He had started to grow in my estimation over the course of the day—at least some—but if he was going to revel in Lux’s misery, I was going to have to deduct points. That was all there was to it.

“I’m not laughing because she’s miserable,” he replied. “I’m laughing because … Frank? Why did her husband want to name their baby after a hotdog?”

“Oh.” A giggle bubbled up. “Yeah, that was kind of funny. There must be some story we’re missing.”

“That poor man.” Leo shook his head, his brown hair flopping over his forehead. “I cannot imagine what hell he’s going to be facing when his wife goes into labor. If she’s that terrible now, then how bad is it going to get? He might not come out alive.”

I made a clucking sound with my tongue. “That’s mean. Did you see that poor woman? She looks as if she’s carrying ten pounds of baby and thirty pounds of water in her stomach. She hasn’t gained weight anywhere else. That cannot be comfortable.”

“Listen, I don’t get how women can have babies in the first place.” Leo fell into step with me as we started our walk back. “I’ve seen the area they exit from. That should be impossible.”

“Is this where you try to wow me with your sexual prowess?” I challenged. “You’ve seen the area they exit from, huh? Do you keep a list so you can pound your chest and brag to your buddies?”

“Nobody outside of frat guys keeps a list,” he replied. “And I didn’t mean it that way. I just … it’s freaky to me.”

“You realize you were born the same way, right?”

“That’s the rumor,” he agreed. His gaze was on a man dressed like Michael Myers, who just happened to be standing on the street corner across from where we were about to walk. “How is that normal?”

“I think it’s part of the charm that is Salem,” I replied. I gave the masked figure a huge smile as we passed. “Nice day, huh?”

He didn’t answer. I wasn’t certain if I expected him to.

“Michael Myers doesn’t talk,” Leo offered. “The only one who talks is Freddy Krueger.”

“That’s not true. The Ghostface killer talks.”

Leo slowed his pace. “You like horror movies?” It was obvious he was surprised.

“I do like horror movies,” I confirmed. “Even bad horror movies.”

“I like them too.”

“Yeah?” I managed a grin. “Just not paranormal stuff, huh?”

For a moment, I thought he was going to explode and start yelling at me. I’d been waiting for a return of the guy I’d met on the plane all morning. Instead, he merely sighed. “I just never thought this was what I would be doing with my career.”

“You mean a paranormal show.”

“I mean a paranormal soap opera.” He said “soap opera” as if it was profanity. “I expected to be doing action movies … or even a nice miniseries on HBO about World War II or something. I did not expect to have to wear fake fangs and get naked with you.”

I frowned. “I’m sorry you have to be so disgusted by my nakedness.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

My anger was the thing growing fangs right now, and I planted my hands on my hips. “What did you mean?”

“I just meant… I don’t want to be a romantic vampire. If I’m going to be a vampire, I want to be a cool one.”

“Like the ones in 30 Days of Night ?”

“Yes.”

I could see that. “This isn’t what I saw myself doing either. When I first started dreaming of being an actress, I thought I was going to be Julia Roberts.”

“ Pretty Woman Julia Roberts or Erin Brockovich Julia Roberts?”

“Both. That was the whole point. It didn’t really work out that way for me, though. I’ve only managed to get bit parts until now.”

“You’re looking at this as your big break,” Leo realized.

“No, I’m looking at this as my last chance.”

My honesty must have thrown him because he looked taken aback. “It’s not your last chance.”

“It is.” I wasn’t feeling sorry for myself about it. At least that’s what I told myself. I was being a realist. “I’m thirty.”

I waited for Leo to respond, but he didn’t.

“I’m thirty,” I repeated. “Women my age aren’t being discovered. They’re being put out to pasture.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You’re still young. You’re younger than me.”

“But men in this business keep being leading men throughout their entire run. I mean … look at As Good as it Gets . Helen Hunt was way younger than Jack Nicholson and yet he was considered a leading man. He was always considered a leading man.”

“Helen Hunt was the other lead,” Leo argued.

“When was the last time you saw Helen Hunt in anything? She aged out. Leading actresses are usually discovered in their teens, like Scarlet Johansson and Natalie Portman. Then they get their best roles in their twenties and manage to push through to their forties. Then they start getting pushed to the side for the younger women to come in.

“All the while Jack Nicholson keeps getting the leading ladies, but the leading ladies get aged out,” I continued. “If you don’t see that, well, there’s not much I can do for you. It happens, though.”

Leo worked his jaw. I could tell the truth bomb I’d dropped on him had been unexpected, and he wasn’t reacting to the news all that well. “I guess I never really thought about it,” was all he said.

“I’m not trying to get you to feel sorry for me,” I insisted. “I’m just being realistic. So, I get that this isn’t the job you want. This is the job I always dreamed of, though.”

Leo looked shell shocked. “I didn’t think about it from your perspective.”

“You don’t have to like me. We do have to work together, though. Honestly, I think you could use the good will from this job as much as anybody. You still have fifty opportunities in front of you. After this… I’m going to have to figure things out.”

“You’re going to have more than this opportunity,” Leo insisted. “I just … you are.”

“You don’t even know if I’m talented,” I argued. “Given that you think this is the worst thing that has ever happened to you, and I believe it was the best thing that’s ever happened to me…” I trailed off.

Leo opened his mouth, then shut it. Then he opened it again. “I’ll try to adjust my attitude,” was all he said when he finally spoke again.

“It would actually be good for you if you did.” I was on a roll now, and he wasn’t arguing with me. That meant I couldn’t stop. “You have a terrible reputation. Upon meeting you yesterday, I thought it was warranted. Today, though, you were actually tolerable.”

His lips quirked. “Tolerable, huh?”

“I’m not your type of person. I’m a glass-half-full girl. You’re not my type either. That’s okay. We don’t have to like each other to work together. We just have to respect one another.”

His expression was impossible to read. For the briefest of moments, I thought he was about to say something really mean. It was anger reflected back at me. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, though, and he just nodded.

“Yeah, we don’t need to like one another,” he said.

“Just try your best, huh?” I sounded like I was begging now but I couldn’t help myself. “This is one of those jobs where you’ll get the return you put into it. Just … try. Not for me, but yourself.”

“I’ll do my job,” he said. “I promise.”

“Then everybody should be happy.”